Importance of training is underlined as mainframe systems continue to play a vital role in society, processing 85 percent of daily financial transactions and underpinning many government departments

Munich, December 07, 2017
- Fujitsu is addressing the growing skills shortage of mainframe engineers by investing in its Enterprise Platform Services Academy, which is now offering an enhanced choice of training options. By sharing specialized knowledge with a new generation of engineers, Fujitsu is providing organizations with the assurance that they will be able to keep their mainframes running long into the future.

Mainframe systems underpin digital infrastructures, and are considered today by many organizations to be the backbone of their digital transformation. Fujitsu has established the EPS Academy to ensure that mainframes will keep on running even as experienced mainframe technicians are retiring. Focusing on high-quality skills transfer, the Fujitsu EPS Academy provides comprehensive training modules to support learning processes and experience exchange.

The Fujitsu EPS Academy offers modular, flexibly-delivered training to customers, partners, students and Fujitsu employees in different formats, as online, standard and customized courses. Training offerings range from entry-level to continuing education and advanced academic research and the EPS Academy is underpinned by both the latest teaching methods and academic collaborations. Its focus is not only on maintaining systems, but also on providing the know-how to help reduce ongoing operating costs associated with mainframe software and hardware.

Rupert Lehner, SVP Enterprise Platform Services EMEIA at Fujitsu, says: “An estimated 85 percent of daily financial services transactions, such as ATM withdrawals and credit card payments, run through mainframe systems. And large organizations with high transaction volumes, such as government departments and financial services institutions, also often rely on mainframes at their core, as do data centers running on-premises and in the cloud. Legendary mainframe reliability is increasingly appealing to organizations that are seeing security concerns rise, where IT departments need to establish more stringent controls, and in line with the growing trend towards big data and analytics.”

To ensure rigor in the Academy’s training curriculum, the EPS Academy has built strong strategic alliances with customers, partners and user groups such as Next e.V. and the Open GI User Group, as well as being engaged in ongoing dialog with oragnizations such as the Technical University of Munich’s (TUM) Computer Science Club. The EPS Academy also relies on academic input to create data center training modules and develop future learning platforms, for example for educational cloud scenarios.

To maintain mainframe knowledge, to extend expertise and to teach modules at academic institutions, the Fujitsu EPS Academy provides and initiates a variety of activities in co-operation with academics and associations, such as “Mainframe Days” or “Winter School – Mainframe Challenges”, or conducts joint work on master studies. Learning sessions cover all typical mainframe system environments across Fujitsu Enterprise Platform Services business lines – as well as many relevant data center technologies, such as networks, storage and applications.

Felicitas Birkner, Head of BS2000 Portfolio Management and the EPS Academy, Fujitsu says: “We are seeing renewed levels of customer interest in extending the lifecycle of proven mainframe technology, and in further developing mainframe-based applications for the future. Fujitsu established the EPS Academy to pass on mainframe knowledge, as well as offering career progression opportunities for both entry-level students, and experts who want to extend their capabilities by ensuring that mainframes are part of the digital future.”

Pricing and availability
Standard classroom courses are conducted at the Fujitsu Training Center in Augsburg, Germany, and on customer premises. EPS Academy training covers all mainframe systems around Fujitsu EPS business lines. Pricing varies according to course, number of modules undertaken, location and class sizes.

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 155,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.5 trillion yen (US $40 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.

About Fujitsu EMEIA

Fujitsu promotes a Human Centric Intelligent Society, in which innovation is driven by the integration of people, information and infrastructure. In the Europe, Middle East, Africa and India region (EMEIA), our 28,000-strong workforce is committed to Digital Co-creation, blending business expertise with digital technology and creating new value with ecosystem partners and customers. We enable our customers to digitally transform with connected technology services, focused on Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, and Cloud - all underpinned by Security. For more information, please visit http://www.fujitsu.com/fts/about/

All other company or product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and is subject to change without advance notice.